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Human Hepatocytes for In Vitro Metabolism Studies

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The liver is the central organ for metabolism, orchestrating essential pathways such as glycolysis, glycogenesis, ureagenesis, and the metabolism of amino acids and lipids. Hepatocytes, the liver’s predominant cell type, are therefore ideal for in vitro studies of human liver function and metabolism.

Advantages of Cultured Human Hepatocytes

  • Large batch availability per donor, enabling consistent and reproducible experiments
  • High plateability (>90%) for reliable attachment and growth
  • Multiple donor options to study inter-individual variability

Key Features

Cultured human hepatocytes are extensively tested to ensure quality and functionality:

  • Cell morphology: Retention of characteristic hepatocyte structure
  • Viable recovery: Approximately 70% of cells remain viable after thawing
  • Marker expression: Positive for CK8, CK18, HSA, AAT; negative for AFP
  • Glycogen storage: Demonstrated via PAS staining
  • Drug metabolism: Inducible cytochrome P450 (CYP) activities
  • Urea secretion: Verified under both basal and stimulated conditions

These cells exhibit similar sensitivity to hepatotoxins as primary hepatocytes, making them a reliable model for early toxicity screening. Using human hepatocytes in early drug screening helps to identify toxic compounds before animal testing, reducing costs and improving safety.

Applications

Human hepatocytes are suitable for a wide range of research applications, including:

  • CYP induction and inhibition studies
  • Genotoxicity testing
  • Basal and cell-specific toxicity assays
  • Investigation of compounds requiring metabolic activation or drug transport
  • Viral infection and replication studies (hepatitis C virus)

Availability and Handling

  • Supplied in cryopreserved vials containing a minimum of 6 million cells per vial
  • Can be provided pre-plated and ready-to-use for immediate experiments
  • At later proliferation stages, cells can be plated at low densities (~30% confluence) and reach full confluence within 4 days. Extended culture may induce senescence gene expression and loss of hepatocyte phenotype.